


The Archives of Numenor

by TheLadyHaleth



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: At this point, Gen, I'm Just Winging It, Mentions of almost-rape, Tar-Mairon is a little bitch, Tar-Miriel just wants answers, i don't know where the plot is going
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:14:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23853655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLadyHaleth/pseuds/TheLadyHaleth
Summary: Princess Tindomiel has a secret. One that might impact the future of Numenor, her father's kingdom.Hundreds of years later, Tar-Miriel finds the princess's diary and begins to uncover the secret. All that's standing in her way is Tar-Mairon.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. The story begins

_Excerpt from Princess Tindomiel’s Diary_   
_Dear Diary,_   
_Father has been hinting that I either marry one of my suitors or send them all away. I know that he is tired of them milling about the palace, though he won’t say that out loud. He has only ever been polite to them._

_Sometimes, I feel too much pressure on me, being the King of Numenor’s only daughter and all. I am expected to be courteous and polite, beautiful and marry well._

_Occasionally, I am tempted to just run away and elope with the first person I see, be they male or female, be they rich or poor, just to spite all of my suitors. But of course, I can’t do that. Not only would it stain my family’s image, or incite mass rebellion from the suitors, but because I can’t just abandon my family. They would be heartbroken. Not to mention, I need them as much as they need me. We are family, after all, blood is thicker than water. I can’t just abandon my family because of purely selfish reasons._

_Such is the life of a princess. Sometimes, I wish I wasn’t one at all._  
-

As a girl, Tar-Miriel had loved reading in the great library. It was her own special place, away from the political tension of Numenor. As she grew older, her trips to the library were less frequent. Not because she didn’t like books anymore, oh no, but it was because her father was growing frailer and frailer, and she needed to learn how to govern a country before it was too late.

She would use to argue that she did know how to govern a country, and she did. Years of reading books about the First Age helped, but apparently, there were some things that a book can’t teach.

Now, as a grown woman, Tar-Miriel is once again reading in the library. This time though, she came across a diary that belonged to princess Tindomiel. Wondering how she had never come across this as a child, she began reading it. Strangely, there were some pages torn out.

The passage she was reading was about how the long-dead princess was struggling under the pressure of court life. Honestly, Tar-Miriel can’t blame her. It was bad enough with all the scheming courtiers but now, with Tar-Mairon, it was somehow worse. Not only was he fair enough that the king instantly fell under his charms, but he was clever as well. Tar-Miriel had to always watch her step with him around. He always seemed to see everything.

“Ah, there you are Tar-Miriel, you are needed by the king.”

(Speak of the devil.)

Tar-Miriel inclined her head in acknowledgement.

“Tar-Mairon. Very well. Where is he?”

“In your chambers.”

And with a sweep of her cloak, she was gone.

…

“What do you want my lord?” Tar-Miriel asked, dripping bitterness at those last two words. If not for him, she would have been the Ruling Queen of Numenor.

“Immortality, an heir, a whole bunch of things, but right now, I’m going to have to settle for you,” Ar-Pharazon slurred. It was clear that he was drunk.

“Gotten tired of your boy-toy I see,” Tar-Miriel retorted.

“At least he lets me use him, unlike you,” Ar-Pharazon responded.

“Well, then you know my answer. No.”

Suddenly, Ar-Pharazon rounded on her. His face was gaunt in the light of the fire.

“Disobedience, my wife, will not be tolerated.”

Tar-Miriel felt a little bit frightened. Never, in all their years of marriage, had Ar-Pharazon ever hurt her. What stopped his hand, though, wasn’t love, it was the public. Things would have to be really bad for Ar-Pharazon to risk the opinion of the public by hitting and bruising his wife.

“I understand that, but I too have some things that will not be tolerated. Being forced upon is one of them,” Tar-Miriel replied coolly, trying to maintain a hard facade.

“Fine then,” Ar Pharazon said, “But remember, I am still the king.”

Every day she remembers. She will not likely forget.

And then he left.

Tar-Miriel was left shaken. It wasn’t because of the fact that Ar-Pharazon wanted the pleasure of her body against his. (In fact, in their earlier days of marriage, they would lie together almost every night, if only to produce an heir. It had never worked. As the years rolled by, they’d stopped trying altogether.) No, the reason that she was shaken was because of the fact that Ar-Pharazon almost tried to force her to lay with him. She could see it in his face. Not only that but now, of all times. After the failed attempts of having a baby, they found no reason to sleep with each other. So why did he want to now?

Sighing, she made her way back to the library, hoping to read a bit more of the diary before she went to sleep. But when she got there, she noticed that the diary was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think?
> 
> Tindomiel was surprisingly easy to write about, as she is basically a shadow in Tolkien's work. Honestly, she's more of an oc that a canon character. Anybody can give her any personality and there would be little to no canonical evidence to suggest otherwise.
> 
> Tar-Miriel and Ar-Pharazon don't share a sleeping chamber if anybody was wondering. They used to, earlier on in their marriage. But then Tar-Miriel moved out, as there was no more reason to share a chamber, as they had stopped having sex ages ago. Ar-Pharazon doesn't care that she moved out. He's just glad that he now gets all the blankets.
> 
> Also, I don't have a beta, so please don't @ me if there are any mistakes.


	2. The plot thickens

_An unsent letter from Princess Tindomiel to Prince Vardamir_   
_Dearest brother,_   
_I know you will never read this but it is comforting nonetheless to write it down addressed to you, as you have told me that I can talk to you about anything. I cannot tell Father this, for it is about his kingdom and I do not want him to think that I’m mad. As of late, I have been having dreams, not the normal kind of dreams that you can forget, but the vaguely prophetic ones. In my dream…_

_[The rest of the letter has been burnt]_  
-

Tar-Miriel was once again looking in the archives for the papers of Tindomiel when she came across this letter, so she took it to the palace library to read. The lighting was better there. She wondered what Tindomiel dreamt about. It sounded urgent. Too bad the end was burned. Princess Tindomiel must have burned it herself, as there were no documented major wildfires in the palace. The reason why she burned it puzzled Tar-Miriel.

Then, another thought crossed Tar-Miriel’s mind. Maybe somebody else burnt the letter. But as soon as that thought entered her mind, she dismissed it. From what she could make out, the letter contained information about Numenor, so who would want to burn it?

And she had obtained the letter from the official Archives of Numenor, where all the first-hand historical documents about Numenor and Beleriand were safely kept, so nobody could have burnt it anyway.

Wait a minute…

The diary of Princess Tindomiel should have been in the Archives, with this letter, but she had found it in the library. Why was it there? Not only that but who could’ve gotten it out in the first place and not put it back? Only a few people had access to those Archives. The scholars would have definitely put it back, Ar-Pharazon wouldn’t have read it in the first place, it was definitely not her, so that only left… Tar-Mairon.

Of course! He was the one that told her to go to the king. He could’ve planted the idea of sending for her in Ar-Pharazon’s head in the first place, and he had enough time to get the book. But that then begs the question, why would he want the book? What information does that diary contain that Tar-Mairon wants it? And would he be so careless to have left it out? 

All of these thoughts and questions swirled around Tar-Miriel’s head. All of the questions ate at her insides, gnawing away. She wanted answers.

So what should she do now? As a naturally curious person, the first thing that came to mind was to find out what that diary contains. But how? She couldn’t just waltz up to Tar-Mairon and demand the diary. She may be the queen of Numenor but she still had to be careful. No, she should find other documents written by Princess Tindomiel first. Find all the other information she could.

With that in mind, Tar-Miriel walked to the archives, with the steps of a woman who was not to be crossed. She was going to find the answer, no matter what.

...

“M’lady, what are you doing here?” Asked Cestadir, the keeper of the Archives.

“Can’t I visit the Archive when I want to?” Tar-Miriel replied, irritated.

“Well, no. Not anymore,” Cestadir replied sheepishly.

“What! Why?” Tar-Miriel cried out, outraged.

“Well, The King’s adviser Tar-Mairon decreed it so. He said that with your views on the Faithful, it might not be a good idea to let you in the Archive anymore. He said that the Archive contains information that might give you ideas. The King agreed.”

Whilst listening to Cestadir explain the matter, Tar-Miriel could feel her spirit leave her body.

Tar-Mairon was on her trail.

But she was also now on his. Now she knows that he has information that he doesn’t want her to know. Information that might be important.

Tar-Miriel was going to get to the bottom of this. One way or another, she will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cestadir is an oc. His name means 'Man who seeks'. It comes from the Quenyan word 'cesta', which means 'to seek', and 'dir', which I'm lead to believe means 'man'.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed that chapter!


End file.
